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Oilers’ Yamamoto, Pakarinen: 5, Canucks ‘C’ Team: 3

I still don’t have a clue who most of Vancouver’s players are

By Jeff Chapman
NHL: Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers
Two goal outburst from Iiro Pakarinen puts Oilers over Canucks
Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

The Oilers should have absolutely knocked the stuffings out of the Canucks tonight. It Vancouver’s team was comprised of three NHL players, a couple of prospects I can recall from the YoungStars tournament in Penticton, and...that’s about it.

The Oilers went with a lineup similar to Wednesday’s matchup against Winnipeg in that the Oilers had roughly two NHL lines. The top line was comprised of Lucic-Draisaitl-Caggiula, while the second line of Pakarinen-Kelly-Yamamoto were an unlikely trio. The unlikely trio did the lion’s share of the scoring.

Bring on the bullets.

  • Leon Draisaitl scored Edmonton’s first goal in the first period when Milan Lucic fed Draisaitl just over the Vancouver blue line. Bonus? It was a power play goal.
  • Earlier today, Iiro Pakarinen hit Cam Talbot in the helmet with a shot during practice. Tonight, Pakarinen caught two goals. He scored a shorthanded one midway though the second period. Mark Fayne had the primary assist on that goal. I swear to God I’m not making this up.
  • Kailer Yamamoto continues his impressive preseason. Two more goals tonight, he’s got four in three preseason games. I keep telling myself that there’s no way that he makes it to the regular season, but he hasn’t looked out of place. He’s looked good, even. There are 23 roster spaces when the season begins in just under two weeks. Each game I see Kailer Yamamoto play, it’s getting more and more difficult talking myself out of him in the season opener.
  • Drake Caggiula had two assists.
  • GIVE ME PUJU: Scratched once again, I’m going to have to see Jesse Puljujarvi some more. We’ll get our wish tomorrow as Winnipeg comes to Rogers Place.
  • Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larsson got some reps in tonight as your first team defence. You’ll continue to see this carry over to the regular season for some time, especially while Andrej Sekera recovers from a torn ACL.
  • Laurent Brossoit turned aside 24 of 27 Vancouver shots. I don’t want to say that Brossoit is killing it out there, but I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s the de facto choice to start behind Cam Talbot.
  • SPECIAL TEAMS: Power Play - 1/6. Penalty Kill: 4/5
  • THEY SAID IT

“We are a winning team, a winning organization, obviously the goal is to win the whole Cup”

That’s Yohann Auvitu during the post-game interview. I share his worldview.

  • NOT READING TOO MUCH INTO IT: Let’s not mince words, the Oilers defeated Vancouver and it always feels good to beat Vancouver. And even though the Oilers had about 1.7 NHL lines tonight, Vancouver didn’t have any. Richard Bachman should’ve allowed something like 16 goals tonight, but he kept it respectable. That said, the Oilers won tonight. Yamamoto looks great. Secondary scoring from Iiro Pakarinen? Yeah, give it to me.
  • Edmonton is 4-0-0 in preseason. They’ll try to go for five in a row tomorrow against Winnipeg. Join us.